“So many dreams we shared before we shared each other. So many dreams we shared, like the stars at noon.”

These opening lyrics are featured in the titular song on the soundtrack to “Stars at Noon,” the most recent film from Claire Denis.

An adaptation of the Denis Johnson novel of the name, “Stars at Noon,” follows Trish, a journalist who is deserted in Nicaragua during the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the country being in the midst of chaos with an upcoming election. One night, she leaves the dilapidated motel where she has been staying and travels to the upscale Intercontinental Hotel. This is where she first meets Daniel DeHaven (played by Joe Alwyn) at the bar, which starts a torrid love affair that would lead to disaster for both of them. 

Margaret Qualley’s performance as Trish is truly outstanding. She embodies this journalist who has been abandoned by her editor and drinks heavily daily. An example of her excellent performance is in a sequence where she confronts Daniel about a man he was speaking to in the dining room at the Intercontinental. 

The cast also includes appearances from Benny Safdie, portraying an unnamed figure whom Trish encounters at a diner in a village, and John C. Reilly as Trish’s frustrated editor.

With her second English-language film, Claire Denis, the director and co-writer of this film, captures a fascinating experience. In her most recent film, Denis, whose previous directorial work includes her 1999 masterpiece “Beau Travail,” continues her focus on themes of colonialism (along with ignorance). This is especially evident with the character of Trish, an American in an impoverished Central American nation, with certain scenes featuring her berating the conditions that the locals are living under (such as telling the owner of the motel that she is staying at that it is a cesspool), along with the character of Daniel DeHaven – who is only in the country on business for the sake of oil. She also gains an excellent performance out of Qualley and transfers the screenplay to film relatively well with a plot that sometimes feels rather loose. 

The soundtrack that Tindersticks composed for this film is fantastic. In their seventh collaboration with Denis, the British band composes a score that compliments the film, with the best piece being the titular track, a jazzy number with an almost bossa nova-esque rhythm section and a droning organ encompassing it.

Regarding the cinematography, Éric Gautier captures some stunning visuals, such as the sequence at a nightclub with a close-up shot of Trish and Daniel close together, with the purple color palette encompassing the two figures and the titular track of the score soundtracking this scene. There is also a wide shot of Trish walking back to her motel after spending the evening with Daniel, capturing the desolation of the area during this tumultuous period.

Photo of Trish and Daniel at the nightclub. (Contributed/collider.com)

My only gripes with the film are that the pacing at points is a bit too slow, specifically in the first act, and that there are certain awkward lines of dialogue in the screenplay – co-written by Denis, Léa Mysius, and Andrew Litvack. Thankfully, these two issues are resolved as the film goes on. 

With her latest film, “Stars at Noon,” Claire Denis has crafted an adaptation that feels like the modern-day version of “The Passenger,” the 1975 Michelangelo Antonioni film starring Jack Nicholson. While it isn’t as good as “Beau Travail,” it is still a fascinating watch with an outstanding leading performance from Margaret Qualley, excellent cinematography and a phenomenal soundtrack.

Trish and Daniel are truly the “Stars at Noon.” 

“Stars at Noon” is available to rent on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV and YouTube.  

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